Whew

So Monday was Moose's last day with us. As Boss was overseas I had to work the full day, so she opted to take herself off to the zoo followed by ice skating.

But even that couldn't go right in my house, could it?

Six fifteen I was standing in the kitchen making myself breakfast when I got a call from Fluffy. He'd forgotten his security pass into work and could I meet him halfway to drop it off? Mind you, he's been working there for 4 years, but the stupid security officer wouldn't even let anyone vouch for him, nor for some reason could they find his file in the computer system. They all have photo IDs so it should have been there.

So I don my cardigan over my pajamas and head out to the car. Darn it. It has been taking a little to fire up this last week, and this morning I didn't think it was going to start at all. Finally it caught but there was an engine warning light on the dash. Great!

I raced out to meet Fluffy at the appointed rendezvous spot, arriving just as he did. He told me to see if I could get it into Mitsubishi to get it looked at. I had to wait until eight before I could call, but they said to bring it down. That meant I was unable to get Moose into the city. I had to wait at Mitsubishi and get their courtesy bus into work.

Great start to the week. As the car is still under warranty I wasn't too worried. But, of course, it's the battery, and for them to install another and reset all the computers, there went $230. Plus, I booked it in for a service as we were going away for the long weekend. Service is this monday. And we are not going away afterall... but that's another story.

So, Monday I toddle off to work, and Moose gets a taxi to the zoo. Fluffy worked Monday because it's an overtime shift and worth some money. After work he came all the way over to my side of town and picked me up from work, taking me to pick up the car. Lovely boy, isn't he?

Then, I picked up Moose from ice skating. Home at last. She had some packing to do so had an early night after dinner.

Tuesday I thought I would sleep in a bit but Moose still came in at her usual time. No problem, I got up as I was awake anyway, playing with the cat on the bed.

So we got Dobby off to school, taking the dog for a much needed walk, then I drove Moose to the airport, where she still had a 2 hour wait for her plane. Sadly, it was the start of an epic 13 hour trip home for her! The Gladstone air port was closed, so not only did she have a stopover in Melbourne from Adelaide to Brisbane, but she was then diverted to Rockhampton and had to take a bus back to Gladstone. I got a text from her after ten pm saying she was finally home. And she had to work the next day!

Anyway, for us it was a quiet night. A quick tidy up and early night. Dobby was supposed to start guitar this week after having her cast off but as she is a member of the Student Council she was given the job of door person (stamping hands) at the school disco so she got another week off.

I brought home pies for dinner (slack I know) and she toddled off to that. We walked her down, stopping to chat to Myrtle's mum for a bit before coming home. That night I started to be aware of a strange dizzy sensation. Where when you lean down you feel like you want to keep moving. I believe it's called Vergito? Anyway, as I had had Labrynthitis some years ago, and was confined to bed, naturally I got a bit worried. I found the symptoms stayed around the rest of the week, only abating on Sunday morning slightly. Scary!

So, anyway, Dobby had fun at the disco, and Fluffy picked her up at nine afterwards. On the way home he told her we would not be going away with the caravan club for the long weekend as he opted to take up some overtime which was on offer. She spat. Of course. Seeing only that we "should consider other people for a change" and think of what she wanted. Blah Blah. I just ignored it.

Thursday off to work again, very quiet work with Boss away. he phones me each afternoon about half past three, otherwise it's very quiet.

Friday was my birthday. Now, I had already received my present from Dobby and Fluffy so for them, it was just another day. But when Fluffy went to work, I was wide awake so I chose to open my gifts from mum, Tanya and Rat.

Mum gave me these two beautifully boxed serving platters. What do you think? Sorry about the photo quality. It's pretty dark in my bedroom.





Rat gave me ten little carved wooden frogs, and Tanya gave me a rose hand lotion and lavender talcum powder. It was business as normal then, off to work. After work, however, an old school friend and his family were in town and wanted to catch up for dinner.

Dobby finished school early but she didn't phone me. I got worried. I tried to phone her mobile, no answer. I phoned home, no answer. Then I phoned Myrtle's mum and she drove over to check out things. She found Dobby sitting on the front stoop eating noodles. See, I had the house key in my car.... Poor dobby was locked out! Today of all days! She had taken all her dad's tools off his work bench to try to break into the house, then had gone to the van and made noodles in van microwave. Talk about mess! Fluffy was not a happy chappy as he had to clean it all up.

So, after a shaky start we all got ready and went to dinner. I had made a booking for eight at the Fresh Choice restaurant at Marion. We arrived early and were seated at a table for about 12 or more. I didn't actually count.

After a while we looked outside and saw the family arriving. However, they were seated across the other side of the restaurant! Stupid people! I phoned Steve, who had his back to me, and told him to look around. We waved madly and they came to join us. It was great to catch up again. His lovely wife is a facebook friend of mine and we got along just fine. Their youngest daughter is Dobby's age too.

They came back to our place for coffee, which finished the evening off nicely.

Oh, and in the afternoon, before dinner, I found a Facebook message from another old school friend! She found me, and we had been extremely close through school. She said some lovely things, and it was a wonderful reunion. I must spend a few minutes soon and "chat" to her online. We have a long time to catch up on.

So, Saturday, Fluffy went to work, and Dobby and I ran a few errands. I had to go and buy his birthday present first, then we went to Marion to drop an invoice into MediBank Private. Then we went looking for dinnersets. Mine is all in pieces, mismatched and such. I didn't want to spend a lot, so we looked through Big W. Saw a few potentials but didn't rush into anything.

Then we went to K Mart. Nothing much there. I noticed Harris Scarfe was having a sale. 40% off dinner sets. Good place to start. They were expensive but reduced to about $60. A couple took my fancy, one having stripes, another spots, a 3rd was black on the outside and green inside. But the one I chose was 50% off cause it was the last one. Reduced from $110 to $60. It was brown, with cream stripe thing at the top. The bowls were large, and the mugs were quite large too. It was a creamy, chocolaty colour. Very nice. After awhile I decided that was the one I wanted.

A young lad came up and packed it up for me to collect later after we had done some more errand running. As we walked away I heard "chink".... oh dear. Sure enough, he had dropped one of the cups, smashing it. He was so embarrassed, poor bloke. He reduced the price another ten dollars but I pointed out the whole purpose of spending that much on a dinner set was because mine was not complete.

I decided I was quite disheartened and just left it. Dobby and I tried to find a photo frame big enough for her netball photo but couldn't find one so we just went back to Castle Plaza and did some grocery shopping. Fluffy called to say he was on his way home, so we bought him a pie for lunch.

Home to unpack. I bought Dobby Sushi and I had kipper snacks (my family knows what they are) on toast with grilled cheese on top. Very tasty. I also grabbed a bowl of chips, a cup of soft drink and my book, and settled in outside.

Once we felt a bit better, I asked Dobby if she wanted to go back to Marion and I would look again at the other sets. Fluffy had said I could and he made himself comfortable in front of the telly watching the grand final, and promptly fell asleep. I woke him briefly to tell him we were going, then off we went.

After looking again at the sets in Harris Scarfe, I chose this one.



The photo really doesn't do it justice. The red on the plates is a rich red wine colour. They are made of an earthen ware type material, and are surprisingly light. We both agreed that after looking at these sets in Harris Scarfe, the others just looked cheap.

This is a size comparison for the cups - they really are quite large!



With these to offer visitors, you sure wouldn't feel embarrassed to offer them coffee!

I made Fluffy a cuppa in one, and woke him long enough for him to check it out and offer his approval. Then he promptly went back to sleep. He has not been well lately, with work putting him under a lot of stress. He doesn't sleep well, and has been not eating right either. This happened once before and he had a breakdown. I am quite worried about him...

Anyway, I wandered around outside for a while and played with the animals. Do you think someone was posing for the camera?



Dinner was lamb chops baked in the oven, with roast potatoes. Yummy!

Today, Sunday, is a very slow day. As I type this it is after ten am and I am still in my pajamas! I have done nothing more than strip the sheets off the bed and put them into the wash. Time to go take care of the hair (it needs a wash), put the second load of laundry on, then take a walk down to the shop for dog food I forgot yesterday.

After vacuuming the floor, and if I feel like it, mopping the kitchen floor, I will call it quits for the day. This dizzy stuff is almost gone but it sure is draining and I can feel a headache coming on. Don't want to over do it now, do I? *wink*